Moving Forward
by krahmogh
Summary: He doesn't remember her. Futurefic. Chlex. Chapters 5 and 6 have been fixed.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I have more of this story done. I'm just posting it in stages.

Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville. If I did, they would have been together and he would keep his hands off of Lana.

Chloe Luthor sat at her favorite corner table slowly nursing a latte and watching Lana Ross work the after-school crowd.

"Hey, all quiet at the Mansion today?" said a voice as its owner slid into a chair across from the blonde.

"Hi, Pete. Yeah, I left Lucas sitting with Lex. I just had to see the outside for a little while. What brings you out in the middle of the day? I thought Clark usually keeps you busy when Lana's here."

"I dropped him off at the Kent farm about an hour ago. Martha's watching him so I can take Lana to the city for the weekend. Tomorrow's our anniversary."

"He's been keeping you pretty busy these days hasn't he?" the blonde asked her childhood friend.

"Yeah, two-year olds will do that." Pete said as he looked at his friend. "I do hope that Lex wakes up before he becomes a father himself. I'd hate for him to miss anything of his child's life."

Chloe smiled softly and placed a hand on her still-flat stomach. "Well, thankfully, he still has a few months to...hold on" she reached into her purse and pulled out the ringing cellular phone. "Chloe Luthor. What? Wait, Lucas slow down. Now, what happened? I'm on my way home," she ended the call and looked back at Pete as she quickly stood. "He's awake," was all she had time to say before she was out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

As Lex Luthor's eyes opened, he could tell instantly that he was in his own bed in the mansion in Smallville; which didn't feel right, since he was supposed to be in Tokyo. As he looked around the room, his eyes focused on the person sitting next to his bed, his brother. Lex tried to speak but couldn't actually form any words.

Lucas immediately grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand and helped his brother take a drink. ''How's that?" the younger man asked.

''Better," Lex replied. ''Why aren't I in Tokyo?"

Lucas sighed before answering. "That's a long story. And one I'm very willing to tell, but first, I think I'd better go down and make a phone call. Your wife will be very disappointed she wasn't here when you woke up. I'll be right back," he said over his shoulder as he walked out into the hallway. If Lucas had still been facing Lex, he would have seen the look of shock on the older man's face. ''Wife?" He didn't remember having a wife.  
Lex was laying in bed hoping his brother wouldn't be gone too long when the door opened and Lucas reappeared. "Okay, she's on her way home. First off, what do you remember so I know where to start.

"I seem to have a big blank. I know I was going to Tokyo but I don't remember being married. How long have I been out of it?"

Before Lucas could answer, there was a knock at the door and a brunette in a lab coat walked in. Lex's eyes widened as he said "Helen?"

"Well Mr. Luthor, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Confused. I thought you left Smallville for that research post at Johns Hopkins?"

"When do you remember that happening?" she asked as she walked over and started to take his blood pressure.

"Last week. You left for Johns Hopkins after I asked you to move in here with me. I left here yesterday for a meeting in Tokyo. Didn't I?"

"Lex, that happened four years ago. You came back from that trip and continued running the plant here. I came back here last May. I've been checking on you here since they had you moved home three weeks ago. Do you remember anything else or do you have a big gap between my leaving and now."

"No, just spending the last week drowning myself in my job so I wouldn't have to think of how hurt I was that you left. Then I remember getting on my plane yesterday to go to Tokyo. I went to the Talon in the morning and then stopped by the Torch office to see Clark. Now, I wake up and you tell me that what I remember happened four years ago. And, Lucas told me he was calling my wife. I don't remember being married. If you left here four years ago, does that mean this is 2006? And please tell me who I'm married to before she walks in here and I..."

"Too late," came a voice from the doorway.

"Chloe?" Lex asked his eyes wide with shock. "We're married?"

"Yes, for almost a year now. And what a year it has been. Ten weeks ago, you left here to attend a conference in Tokyo. You never made it across the Pacific. Your plane went down in a storm. A few days later, your dad had a heart attack. He recovered but was told by his doctors that if he continued to run LuthorCorp, the next attack could very likely kill him. So, he is living a very peaceful life at his villa down in the Bahamas. Lucas and I have been running the business while waiting for you. You were found just four weeks ago. You spent a week at Smallville Medical while Dr. Bryce here made sure that your dehydration was under control and then you were moved here to the house." She then turned her attention to the other woman in the room. "How is he, Helen?"

''His blood pressure's fine, his temperature is normal and other than some mild amnesia, I don't see any reason why he won't make a complete recovery. So how are you feeling today?"

Chloe suddenly got a very worried expression on her face. "Helen, Lucas, can I speak with the two of you in the hallway for a moment please? We'll be right back Lex." As soon as the three of them reached the hall, Chloe spoke very quickly but quietly, "Okay, I know you are just doing your job, but I need both of you to remember that Lex did not know about the pregnancy when he left to go on this trip. I found out while he was missing. So obviously, I haven't had the chance to tell him yet. And since, we now know that he doesn't even remember falling in love with me, I'd rather not tell him just yet that he is going to be a father in about six months or so. In answer to your question, I get sick in the morning and late at night but during the day I'm fine. Now, Helen I need you to help us figure out if his memory loss is permanent or not. Lucas, have you called your dad yet to tell him that Lex is awake?"

''Not yet, the only call I've made was to you. Helen just happened to be here at the time. I think I'll call Dave to gas up the plane. This is news I'd rather give him in person. Since his heart's so fragile and everything," he ended with a smile. "Tell my brother I'll see him tomorrow." He added with a smile as he walked toward the stairs.

"Chloe," said Dr. Bryce, "We also need to find out from Lex how badly his muscles have started to atrophy. Then he'll need a physical therapist."

"You're right and I already have a lead on a therapist. Bruce gave me a name when we spoke last week. For now, we'd better go back in before he starts to worry." But when the two women reentered the room, they found the bald billionaire fast asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Lex lay in bed that night trying to remember all the things that should be where all he could find was a blank. He could remember nothing of his romantic relationship with Chloe. It just wouldn't come to him and that was very frustrating. And of course he couldn't get out of bed because it turned out his muscles had atrophied from non-use and would require extensive physical therapy.

Chloe had been in the chair beside his bed when he had reawakened a few hours ago. She had explained to him how he had come to the Torch office looking for Clark the day after Helen had left town which really was four years ago and it was now early in 2007. Clark of course was at home doing chores but was supposed to return soon so Lex waited for him. While waiting, they had engaged in a fresh match of verbal judo during which Lex realized that this spunky little reporter was quite attractive to him. Their first date was at the end of that week and they had gotten married a year after she finished high school.

He remembered none of this but wished he did. He wished she were here with him now. But she thought it better if she continued to sleep in the room across the hall, the one she started sleeping in when they moved him back to the mansion three weeks ago. So, he lay there, not wanting to sleep but wishing he could anyway knowing that she would be back to see him in the morning. He just hoped that someday they would both be comfortable enough for her to be back in his room again. He really liked her. He just wished he could remember loving her.

Chloe on the other hand, was actually down in the kitchen. Having recently lost the contents of her dinner, she was searching for something she might be able to keep down. She had just poured herself a glass of club soda and was about to raise the glass to her lips when a pair of strong arms encircled her from behind. "Drinking alone, Mrs. Luthor? Not a good sign." Lucas said as he took the glass from her and took a drink from it. 

''Well now that you're here I won't have to drink alone," she replied as she lifted her face to his and placed a kiss on her brother-in-law's cheek. "So, what are you doing back so soon? I figured you'd stay the night on the island," she said as she took the glass back from him.

"You know I hate the heat down there. Besides, I thought you might need me. How _is_ he?" Lucas asked with genuine concern in his voice. Lex might not remember it, but the two brothers had become really close in the last few years.

"Well he has some of the facts but none of the memories. The last thing he remembers before waking up this afternoon is leaving for Tokyo the week after Helen left for Johns Hopkins," she said as she downed the contents of the glass and reached for the saltine crackers on the counter.

"And are you upset that he doesn't remember your romance or that what he does remember is about Helen?" Her brother asked.

"Both. At least he has some memories of me; they just aren't the good memories. But, thankfully, what he remembers about her is a bad memory so he isn't still thinking that he's in love with her. And, how do I tell him that I'm pregnant with his child when he only thinks of me as an acquaintance?"

Lucas took her in his arms and held her as she cried. He had held her like this many times in the past ten weeks. But tonight was different. Tonight she cried not for the fear of what was to come but for the truth they both knew. She was in love with a man who didn't remember ever caring about her. "Is he asleep?"

"He wasn't when I left him," she answered when she was able to calm down. "I just told him I had some things to do and then I was going to try and get some sleep. I have to tell him before someone else does that I had to leave his room so he wouldn't see me getting sick. Why don't you go up while I try and finish a few more of these," she offered pointing to the crackers.

He hugged her close for a minute and then said, "Good idea, you'll come say good night?"

"Sure."

Lucas stopped in the hallway outside of his brother's door and composed himself before knocking and then entering. "Are you up for some company?" he asked from the doorway. ?

Lex looked up and smiled before replying, "Sure, Lucas, come on in. I thought Chloe said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Did you see Dad already?"

"Yeah, he was really glad to hear that you're awake and wanted to throttle me for not letting him come back up here to see you. I told him that we have to follow his doctor's orders not to add too much stress and that being here in the mansion where he had his heart attack and seeing you in your present condition might be too much for him. I told him that when you feel well enough; we'll both come back down there for a visit.

Lex looked thoughtful and then nodded. "Sounds good, his health is really that fragile, then? In my mind, I haven't seen him for four years. I thought I had you out of town and out of Dad's grasp. When did you come back to town and have you and I and Dad all worked out our differences or did you just come back after Dad's heart attack?"

Lucas grinned like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland when he answered his brother. "Dad's fine. We paid his doctors off so they would convince him that he could have a repeat episode at any time. So, Dad is living a very peaceful life and we have the control you've been wishing for for so long. As for me, I came back to town to help Dad while you and Chloe were on your honeymoon. We set aside our differences for the good of the company. I've been around ever since. I don't normally have a lot of responsibilities with the company, but I have really loved being here and getting to know you and Chloe. She is a great girl, Lex. I think of her like a sister and you and I've gotten really close. It's been really hard the last few weeks wondering if you would ever be ok again. I'm glad it looks like you're going to be fine once we get your muscles working again and fill in the gaps in your memory."

Lex wondered if his true memories would ever come back or if he would just have to move forward and make new ones with a wife and brother that he barely knew. He was glad to hear that Lionel's health was not as bad as he first feared and also relieved to hear that his brother and wife had figured out a way to keep Lionel out of the business. "So," he said, "I wonder what chance there might be that my old memories will return. You and I will need a lot of time together if you're going to catch me up to speed on everything I'm missing from the past four years." 

Lucas nodded and said, "No problem, big brother."

"I'll help you too," said a voice from the doorway. The two brothers looked up to see Chloe standing there.

Lucas looked from Chloe's face back to Lex's and decided it was time to make himself scarce. "I'll see you guys in the morning," he told them as he headed for his own room. It had been a long day. At least he had taken a nap on the plane on the way back from the island. He would check with Chloe in the morning and hope that their current conversation was a good one.

Back in Lex's room, Chloe took the chair next to her husband's bed and asked him, "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad. I'd be okay if I had my memories from the last four years. You and I were merely acquaintances the day I left for Tokyo and now I wake up to find four years of memories are gone and you and I are married." Lex looked pensive for a moment and then asked her, "Chloe, are we happy?"

Chloe teared up at her husband's words and felt a bit of anger creep into her reply, "I had you moved home three weeks ago, Lucas and I got your father effectively out of the picture, I've been on the phone today with Bruce Wayne about physical therapy for you, Lucas and I have spent the past three weeks right here waiting for you to wake up, and you have the nerve to ask me if we're happy? Next I suppose you're going to ask if I really love you. I can't believe you even asked me that. The only reason I wasn't here when you woke up this afternoon was because I was at the Talon taking a break from watching you sleep because that's all I've done for the past three weeks. I think you should get some more rest. I'll be back in the morning. Good night, Lex." With that, she turned on her heel and left his room to seek the solace of her own. Lex wanted to call her back but he was too shocked by her outburst to do so. He lay awake for quite a while trying to form the apology he would give her in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Lucas found Chloe in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. "Morning, Chloe," he said as he poured himself a bowl and sat down across from her. "Have you been to see Lex yet?

"Not yet. I had to eat something first. I got sick a few minutes ago and I figure I should eat so he won't think something is wrong when I go in there. Do you know, he had the nerve to ask me if we're happy? After everything he can see we've done for him." She paused to compose herself before continuing, "I got so upset I started crying, yelled at him, and left before he could say anything. So, after I finish this, I have to go in there and apologize to him."

Lucas shook his head as he listened to his sister-in-law. He knew this situation couldn't be easy for either one of them. He just hoped that Chloe's love for Lex and their unborn child was enough to get them through this awkward time. "Sis, I'm sure you guys are going to have some rough moments. You may need to apologize for some things you'll say to each other. But, I really think things will work out all right in the end."

She sniffled again as she looked up at him, "What if it's not? What if he decides that he doesn't want me now after all? My future is in the hands of a man who has no memories of our love. He has the power to kick me out of here and divorce me. Then he can take the baby away from me and I really will have nothing."

By this time, Lucas had moved to the chair next to hers and had his arms wrapped around her as she voiced her worst fears. He said nothing, simply holding her as she cried.

Lex was awake and had been brought his own breakfast by the time Chloe made it to his room. He had been thinking about how she must feel. He found he could only imagine how it felt to love someone who suddenly didn't remember loving you. And it wasn't that he was opposed to getting to know Chloe better; she just needed to give him some time to adjust.

He was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of a knock on his door. "Come in," he called, hoping that the person on the other side was the one he had just been thinking about. He was not disappointed as her blonde head appeared in the doorway.

"Hi," she said, cautiously. "Are you up for some company this morning?"

"Of course," he answered smoothly, "I was hoping you'd come by so I can apologize for last night. You were right. The signs were all there that you and I are happy and in love. I guess I just missed them in my confused state. Please try and keep in mind that the last thing I can remember is having a conversation with you in which I considered asking you out. Now I wake up to find that not only did I act on those thoughts but that we hit it off so well, we've been married for a year. I want to get to know you Chloe. I want to see if I can develop the feelings for you that you say I've had for a long time now. Please try to be patient with me, okay?"

Chloe had taken the chair next to her husband's bed and had been sitting quietly while he finished. She smiled as she answered him, "Actually, I came in here to apologize to you. I was the one who was out of line last night. Of course you're confused by everything thing you heard from us yesterday. It was a simple question and I shouldn't have overreacted the way I did. Please chalk it up to the fact that it was a shock to me too to hear that you've lost four years of our life together. I've been asking myself since you woke up where we go from here. If you need time on your own I could go stay in Metropolis at the penthouse. Lucas can catch you up on all business related matters and you could concentrate on your physical therapy without me here getting in the way. Or ..."

"Chloe, stop right there." He looked at her and frowned. "Did you even hear what I said before you launched in to what you'd rehearsed? I just told you that I want to get to know you. If I fell in love with you once, and I no longer remember doing so, then you need to give me the chance to find that love again." Lex's eyes softened just a little as he added, "And I would never ask you to leave your home. If anything, I'm going to need you and Lucas both to help me get reacquainted with my life. Can you help me, Chloe?"

She nodded and said, "Of course I will Lex. I love you too much to do anything less." She leaned down and lightly kissed his forehead. "You rest. I need to go downstairs to the office and look over some contracts. I'm also expecting a call from Bruce this morning about physical therapy options for you. I'll be back in later to let you know what he comes up with. Lucas should be in to see you soon."

Lex and Lucas had a very productive meeting concerning current business practices of LuthorCorp. The bald billionaire found he was quite pleased with the way his companies were being run in his absence. As it turned out, his wife and brother were very good at anticipating his intentions. They were currently working towards acquiring another plant just outside of Edge City. Chloe spent the morning poring over the final contracts in preparation for a board meeting at the end of the next week.

Chloe had come back at lunch time and informed him that Bruce was sending a physical therapist their way. She said that if anyone could find someone to work closely with Lex it was Bruce Wayne. The Gothamite had needed some PT himself after a strange car accident the year before. Being such a high profile businessman himself, it helped to have employees who knew how to be discreet, and therapists were no exception to the rule. Lex hoped so. His bed was starting to feel rather confining. He was very aware that moving forward with his life and getting to know his wife would be much easier when he could get up and move around on his own. Having to wait on her to come to him could get very frustrating very quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

It wasn't that Chloe was avoiding her husband intentionally; it was just that she wasn't sure how to act around him now. She still saw the man she was in love with. Unfortunately, she was afraid he only saw her as an acquaintance he once thought he might be interested in. How do you make your husband fall in love with you? She just didn't know. So, she found herself keeping busy with extra work instead of spending time by her husband's side. Thankfully for all of them, her brother-in-law noticed what she was doing and vowed to do something about it.

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Three days went by in which Lex Luthor did not see his wife at all. Lucas was in quite frequently and the therapist had arrived. It was hard work getting his muscles to respond to him again but he knew it would be worth it when he could get up by himself. According to Lucas, Chloe had a lot to do to get things back on track now that he was awake. She was traveling between the plant, the office in Metropolis, and the mansion. Lucas knew that with morning sickness on top of all of that, she was going to quickly exhaust herself.

Lucas found his sister-in-law in the study on the fifth day after Lex woke up. She was dressed in a suit, sitting at Lex's desk and looked like she was just come from the plant. She was poring over paperwork with absent-mindedly rubbing her left shoulder. "Chloe, we need to talk," he said as he came to stand in front of her.

She looked up, clearly surprised that he had sought her out. "I'm a little busy right now Lucas, can this wait?"

Upon closer inspection, he could see how tired she really was. The bags under her eyes made it look like she hadn't slept in days. He had seen her look this way the first week Lex was missing and Lionel had his heart attack. Lucas had to force her to rest then and that was before they knew about her pregnancy. He now realized that he had been lax in taking care of her the last few days. He shook off his thoughts as he asked her, "Chloe, have you slept this week?"

"If that's all you need, the answer is barely. I usually get the hours between two and five when I just can't keep my eyes open any longer. Between the Edge City deal, catching up on these quarterly reports, and having morning sickness, I'm pretty swamped. Thanks for checking on me, though," she finished as if she were dismissing the butler.

Lucas raised his eyebrows at her tone and responded simply, "And when are you making time to spend with your husband?"

She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "I'm giving him some time right now to accept that he may never recover the memories of our life together and decide what to do next."

Lucas glared at her before reminding her, "Lex told you he didn't need time and you promised to help him."

"Well, maybe I need time," she all but shouted at him. She stopped for a moment to compose her thoughts before continuing in a calm voice again. "I went by the hospital this morning to see Helen. Pretty soon, it is going to very evident that I'm gaining weight. How can I go in there and announce to a man that he's going to be a father when he doesn't even care about me?"

By this time, Lucas had moved around the desk and had gathered Chloe in his arms just in time for the first tears to start falling. He held her and stroked her hair as she cried. When the tears finally subsided, he pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Chloe, I don't have the answers you're looking for. You and Lex need to work these things out. And avoiding him is not going to make it any easier to tell him about the baby. I do think what you need the most right this minute is need some rest. And, if you're going to refuse to go upstairs, at least, lay down on the couch in here for a bit. We don't have to worry about Lex for now. He sleeps for a while after therapy. But, you have to come see him after dinner."

Chloe nodded thoughtfully before allowing him to lead her to the couch. She closed her eyes and was asleep almost immediately. Lucas smiled down at her before quietly leaving the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe woke up on the couch in the study and found she had been asleep for close to three hours. She looked over at the desk and sighed at the thought of how much work still needed to be done. She shook her head and left the room in search of some dinner and some time with her husband.

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Lex lay in bed wondering when he might see his wife again. Lucas had been in with photo albums of Lex and Chloe's wedding day. They certainty seemed happy in the pictures. Chloe looked stunning in her dress. The look he saw in his own eyes told him exactly how unnecessary his question had been the other day. That look showed all of the love he had felt for his bride on their special day.

The pictures made it look like he hadn't taken his eyes off his bride since the first moment he had seen her in her wedding dress. It was a white, strapless, floor-length number with lots of lace and topped with a diamond tiara in her hair. She definitely looked like a bride worthy of the title she was taking on. Mrs. Chloe Luthor. He never would've thought on the day they met that she would someday take his name.

He was brought out of his reverie by a knock on the door. The door opened to reveal the subject of his thoughts. His wife stepped into the room nervously. She knew that she needed to spend time with her husband if they were to get their relationship back on track. The problem was she was afraid that he would reject her this time around. She was probably just being affected by the hormones of pregnancy but she knew she couldn't help it.

"Hey, Lex, are you up for some company?"

"As long as it's you," he said with a smile.

"No, I meant the butler. Of course, it's me," she replied with a grin. "I need to apologize for not coming in to see you for the last few days. I've been working on those new contracts, the plant here needed some extra attention, and I had to go over the minutes from the board meeting last week. I think I have tonight and tomorrow morning free. I will be very glad when Lucas can get you back up to speed and you can take over some of this again."

"Don't worry about the last few days," he said gently. "Lucas explained why you were so busy. I completely understand. LexCorp was hard enough to run by myself, I can only imagine how hard it would be to handle LuthorCorp alone. Lucas is doing all he can to get me back up to speed. I hope to be ready to return to the office as soon as my body is ready. For right now, this physical therapy is taking a lot out of me.

Chloe nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, Bruce mentioned that it probably would. He also warned that it has the ability to make the recipient a tad on edge due to the exhaustion."

"I can see how that could happen," her husband responded. "Tell me something, how did you come to know Bruce Wayne so well that he would be giving you advice on that level?"

"Lex, I've known you for four years now. You've known Bruce for twelve years. We stayed with him in Gotham a few weeks before you went missing. He told you to expand your empire all over the country if that's what you intend on doing. Just leave Gotham and Wayne Enterprises alone. You assured him that you had no interests in his fair city. We were only there to get some time away from our hectic schedule. You even told him that if he ever felt the need for time away of his own, that the mansion would be open to him for as long as he needed. He might have taken you up on your offer if you hadn't gone missing. He was very happy to hear that you were awake when I called him the other day."

There was a knock at the door before it opened to reveal the maid carrying Lex's dinner tray. Chloe looked pensive for a moment and then turned back to her husband. "I'd better go so you can eat."

"Why don't you stay and talk to me while I eat?" Lex asked hopefully. "We can have Mary bring your dinner up as well."

By this time Mary had uncovered Lex's tray to reveal that he had ordered breakfast for dinner. Chloe felt her stomach lurch at just the sight of the eggs on his plate and that was before the smell hit her. She wasn't even able to say anything before covering her mouth and dashing from the room. She made it into the bathroom in her own room across the hall just in time to lose the contents of her lunch.

Lex looked to the doorway in horror to see his brother had just come around the corner. "I guess hiding it any longer is out of the question. She's pregnant Lex. She found out after you went missing. She's very happy about the baby but she's been nervous about your reaction so she didn't know how to tell you that the woman you don't remember marrying is carrying your child. She's still having morning sickness and eggs are one of the worst triggers for her right now.

"Mary, take this away and bring me back a turkey sandwich. Lucas, can you get my wife to come back in here? I need to talk to her. A baby, she's having my baby? Please Lucas, bring her back in here." Lex was pleading with his brother at this point.

Lucas was intrigued by his brother's reaction to the news. He seemed really receptive to the idea. The possibility of children had been mentioned during the wedding planning last year but at the time Lex had dismissed the idea with "Let's get through the wedding first." Now it would be interesting to see how he faced the reality of being a father. Something he's never been sure of. He's always been afraid of turning out just like Lionel. Lucas had told him that he could never be like Lionel because he had Chloe who would always hold him in check.

Lucas was brought back to the present by his brother's voice. "Lucas, can you go find her, please?

"I'll see what I can do. She'll need a few minutes. She usually sits down with some crackers and club soda after one of these times. That's what I found her doing the first night you were awake after I got back from seeing Dad. She was able to make it out of here that night without revealing the truth. I'll be back in a few minutes," he added on his way to the door.

The man who only a twenty minutes ago thought things were starting to look up now found himself faced with a much bigger problem. His wife, who he doesn't remember marrying, is pregnant with his child. A child who, as far as he could tell was conceived out of the love that its parents had for each other. Now, that child's mother was so worried about his reaction to the news that she hadn't even told him about it on her own. He was not happy that this was the way he had found out about the impending birth of his first born.

Still, he was pleased to know that the pregnancy was part of the reason Chloe had been avoiding him and not just that she was too busy or didn't want to see him.

Lucas found Chloe still bending over the toilet in her bathroom. He pulled back her hair and then reached for a washcloth. After cleaning her face and holding her from behind for a moment, he turned his sister-in-law to face him. "Chloe, I told him about the baby. I had to, he looked horrified when you rushed from his room the way you did. He wants you to come back and talk to him. Mary has already taken the eggs away and is supposed to bring him back a sandwich. I told him you would need to take a few minutes to calm down but maybe you would come back after that. What do you think?"

Chloe was crying anew by this point. "I don't know if I can. Lucas, I don't know if I can face him again now. He'll be angry and hurt that I didn't tell him sooner. We were just now getting things to where we could talk again and now he finds out I've been lying to him since he woke up. What if he's so angry he wants to kick me out?"

"He's not going to kick you out while you're carrying his baby. My brother doesn't work like that, amnesia or no. He may be a little upset that we waited this long to tell him but I think he may be pretty understanding under the current circumstances. You sit down on your bed for a minute and regain your composure. Do you have any crackers stashed up here?"

Chloe sniffed a few more times before answering her cool-headed brother-in-law. "Yeah, they're in the top drawer of my night stand. I have to keep some up here because sometimes my stomach is upset when I wake up and I need them to be able to get out of bed.

Lucas moved to the aforementioned piece of furniture, reached into the drawer, and retrieved the much-needed crackers. He opened the package and offered some to Chloe. She took them with a thankful smile. "Would you check on Lex for me? Let him know I'll be coming back in a few minutes, if he wants me to that is."

Lucas smiled before turning to the door, "We'll be waiting for you."


	7. Chapter 7

By the time Chloe reached Lex's room once again, she found the two brothers deep in conversation. Lex smiled at her as she came timidly into the room. It was Lucas he spoke to, "Would you give us a minute, please?

The younger man nodded as he responded to his brother. "Yeah, I'll head downstairs to the office for a bit. Let me know if you need me." Lucas squeezed Chloe's hand gently as he passed her. "Talk to him," he whispered. Lucas hoped that she would talk honestly to her husband despite her current fear of his reaction to her news. Unbeknownst to the couple in the room, Lucas stood just outside the open door, staying within earshot in case the conversation did not go well.

Lex looked at his wife and tried to decide the best way to start. "Could you come over here, please, Chloe?" He thought close proximity might be best under the circumstances. She moved forward slowly and sat down in the chair beside his bed. He quietly took in her appearance. Her suit looked slept in. Lucas mentioned that she was lying down on the couch in the office when he was in with the wedding photos. Her face had the look of exhaustion etched on it along with the telltale signs of recently being sick and crying. In short, his wife was a wreck. And to top it all off, the reason was because he had gotten her pregnant and then lost his memory and now she was afraid of rejection.

"Chloe, look at me," he commanded softly. He waited until her eyes met his before continuing. "In the first place, you're working too hard. Whatever has to be done tomorrow, put it off and spend tomorrow resting. That's not a request. Let me finish," he stated as she looked ready to interrupt him, "it seems like you've been working since the moment I woke up. I thought that was just normal business practices and when I got caught up to speed I could take some of the load off of your shoulders."

"Now, I find out that you're pregnant with our child. I won't have you sacrificing your health for the good of the company. The company can wait. You and the baby have to be healthy. If anything happens to this baby because you're working too hard, you'll blame me because it's my fault you had all this work to do and then you'll break down just like my mom did after Julian was born. I took responsibility for Julian's death for a long time. I won't be responsible for anything happening to my own child."

"Take tomorrow off and then I want you and Lucas to get me caught up as quickly as possible. If I have to start doing business from this bed until my legs are strong enough to support me again so be it. But, you are going to start doing less and resting more."

"And," he continued, finally allowing a small smile to grace his features, "before you ask I am very happy that you are having our child. I would like you to start spending more time in here too though and not just to talk about the business. We need to get our relationship back on track before this baby makes his or her entrance into the world."

Chloe, whose eyes had widened in shock at the beginning of her husband's tirade, now smiled as well before answering, "All right, I'll try to slow down a little and get you caught back up."

It was Lex's turn to be surprised when the next thing his wife did was turn her head toward the door and raise her voice just a little bit to say, "Lucas, let Mary know we're ready for those sandwiches now, please."

She turned back to Lex, "You don't really think he went downstairs do you? Lucas is very loyal to both of us but I'm sure he was waiting right outside the door to give you a piece of his mind if I left here crying again."

The door was pushed open the rest of the way as Mary came in with a tray of turkey sandwiches, chips, bottled water, and coffee. Lucas, as suspected, was right behind her. "So, did I hear someone mention hunger?"

Lex picked up half a turkey sandwich and watched as his wife did the same before turning his eyes on his brother. The younger man was looking rather pleased about the current situation. He met Lex's gaze as the older man whispered "Thank you."

Lucas nodded and then declared, "I really am heading down to the office now. The weekly reports from the Central City plant came in this afternoon and I need to check them over before speaking to the plant manager tomorrow. I'll be back to see you in the morning Lex. Good night, Chloe."

"Night Lucas." Chloe responded around a mouthful of sandwich. Noticing the questioning look her husband was giving her, she informed him, "The manager at the Central City processing plant was killed in a car accident five months ago. You appointed the assistant manager to take over and asked for weekly reports until further notice. You hadn't changed those orders before you went missing so we've still been getting them. Lucas is handling things with them very well so far. Ask him about it in the morning. You two can decide if the new manager is doing well enough to cut down to monthly reports or not."

Lex nodded thoughtfully as he washed his sandwich down with some water. "Sounds good. How is the plant here doing? Is your dad still in charge?"

"Yes, he is." Chloe answered him. "In fact I saw him earlier today. I was supposed to tell you how glad he was to hear that you're awake and he hopes that you get your memory back and feel well enough to visit the plant soon."

"Right now I would settle for feeling well enough to go downstairs," he replied with a snort. "It is so hard to just sit here and wait on you or Lucas or my therapist or Helen to come up here just so I have someone to talk to for a minute. Would you ask Mary to bring me the newspaper with my breakfast tray? At least I could start getting caught up a little that way too. And find me a phone. Then, if I need you I can call when you're not in here."

"I can take care of both of those things right now. I'll bring over the phone from my bedside table and plug it back in here where it belongs. I took it when we brought you home so it wouldn't bother you if it rang. Then, I'll go down and talk to Mary about the paper." Chloe leaned over her husband and placed a kiss on his forehead just as she had done a few days earlier. "I'll be back in a few minutes with the phone."

Lex wondered as he watched her go if he should start responding to her kisses or if he should wait a few more days for that. He was really pleased that she was responding so well to his ideas this evening. He'd have to check with Lucas in the morning to see if she was really ok or if she was hiding her real feelings from him.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Chloe left Lex's room after plugging his phone back in, he immediately picked it up and dialed the extension for the downstairs office. "Luthor," he heard as the phone was picked up. "Lucas, Chloe brought me my phone back. I need you to let me know how she's really doing when you see her in a few minutes. I'm not sure if she's hiding anything from me or not. I don't know her that well any more."

"Well, it's good to hear from you and I'll be getting that information to you as soon as I have it," the younger man responded.

"I take it she's there now. Can you give me a weather report that might convey her current mood?"

Lucas turned and looked out the window. "Well, the moon is out so that's a good sign but some clouds might move in later."

"Thanks, Lucas, keep me informed as you get the chance. I'd like to hear from you again this evening if at all possible."

"Right, well I'll look over those figures for you and get back to you as soon as possible," the younger man said as he hung up the phone.

"So, now he's asking you to spy on me for him?" Chloe accused of her brother-in-law as soon as he was off the phone. She was standing right in front of the desk with her hands on her hips looking like a petulant child.

Lucas wasn't a bit surprised that Chloe had guessed that he was talking to Lex. He had learned early on to never underestimate the spunky blond who was dating his brother. "He said he doesn't know you well enough right now to gauge your reactions. He threw a lot at you at one time and he wanted to know how you seemed. I think he's being genuinely concerned for his wife and the mother of his unborn child. Now, I want your honest reaction to everything he said. Remember, I heard his initial reaction. How was he when I came back down?"

Chloe thought for a moment before answering, "He seemed really calm considering everything. I did have to explain about those weekly reports you have in front of you. He said he feels really out of touch and wants to start getting the newspaper with his breakfast tray and he wanted the phone so he doesn't have to wait on someone to come to him. I should have known he would call you as soon as I left the room."

Lucas came around the desk and put his hands on her upper arms to calm her. "Chloe, he's worried about you. He may not remember the last four years of your life together but he is starting to really care about you. I believe he genuinely meant what he said about working from that bed if he has to in order to keep you from overdoing it. Just remember, Julian's death hit him really hard. He doesn't want to risk being the cause of a repeat of that."

"I would never. . ."

"You don't know what a woman with post-partum depression is capable of. Women have been known to kill their brand new babies because they see them as the source of the depression and think that everything will be all right if they don't have the child any more. Lillian's problem was deeper than that. She saw the way Lionel was treating Lex and she didn't want Julian to live that way either. Lionel wouldn't have let her take the boys and have a divorce so she killed Julian to keep him out of his father's clutches."

"Lex will be worried about your mental state during the rest of your pregnancy," Lucas continued. "He will make sure that you get enough rest and that you trust him to be the father Lionel never was to either of us. And if that means he's going to call down here so I can give him a fair assessment of your mental state then I'm going to help both of you by giving him every piece of information he asks me for. I hope you'll be honest with him as well."

Chloe looked pensive for a moment as she let Lucas' words sink in. "You're right, I had forgotten about Julian's death. Lex feels like he doesn't know me very well right now. Like he said, we need to get our relationship back on track before the baby is born. Tell him whatever you need to Lucas but make sure that he knows that my mental health is nowhere near as fragile as his mother's was during her pregnancy with Julian. I am looking forward to the two of us raising this baby and would never do anything to hurt our child."


End file.
